Display-case.



No. 771,731. PATENTED OCT. 4, 1904.

' G. J. JOHNSON.

DISPLAY CASE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

W [TN/58155: f/VVENTOR Affowleyq) No. 771.731. PATENTED 0014, 1904.

Q 0. J. JOHNSON.

DISPLAY CASE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Igg 3.

W/TNESSES: [Nl ENTOR W Y W- UNITED STATES Patented October 4, 1904.

CHARLES J. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DISPLAY-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,731, dated October 4, 1904..

Application filed March 17, 1904.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. J OHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Display-Cases, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to display or show cases used as store furniture for the display of goods therein; and the object of the invention is to provide a case which can be taken apart and put together by one man and which can be cleaned or repaired without disturbing the articles inside the case and. which is capable of easy decoration and cheap and easy construction. These objects are effected by making the walls of the case independent and separable, so that each wall can be separately taken off or put on. To do this, corner-fastenings are used having the form of hinges with loose pintles, which can be removed to enable the fastenings or hinges to separate and the frames to come apart, and it will be noticed that when the case is set up the hinges or' fastenings cannot be got at without opening the top of the case. The separate or independent construction of the parts enables the device to be knocked down and shipped in small compass and put together by any one without skill. There is thus a great saving of freight expense and space and also less danger of breaking the glass during transportation. The construction has many other points of advantage, which will be more fully apparent from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the case set up. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an inner perspective view of the rear, top, and end walls of the casing separated from the remainder and partially separated from each other, illustrating the manner inwhich the frames are taken apart and put together. Fig. L is an inner perspective view of the bottom and front detached from the remaining parts, which are shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail in perspective of one of the hinges or fastenings.

The separate or separable parts of the structure are as follows: the bottom 6, the front -the latter are grooved, as at Serial No. 198,570. (No model.)

' 7, the back 8, the ends 9, and the top 10. All

these parts except the bottom are frames suitable to receive glass, as indicated at 11, through which the contents of the case are shown. The back 8 of the case has double sliding doors 12, which slide beside each other in grooves 18 in the top and bottom bars of the frame in a manner common to this class of cases to permit access to the interior, and the back frame also carries an inwardly-projecting shelf 14:, which is supported by brackets 15, secured to the side bars of the frame. The hinge-fasteners comprise two leaves 16, connected by a removable pintle 17. These hinge-fasteners are placed between the top and the back, between the ends and the front and back, and between the bottom and the front, and they fold inwardly, so that when the frames are set up the hinges fold in the joints between the frames. Under the bottom 6 are sills 18, provided with dovetail tenons 19, which fit within mortises 20 at the lower edge of the back of the case, the lower edge being rabbeted, as at 21, to fit over and rest upon the rearwardly-p rejecting ends of the sills 18, and to insure a close fit and tight joint be tween the bottom and the front and end frames 22, and these grooves receive the frontand end edges 6 of the bottom 6.

When the parts are assembled, the front 7 is joined by means of the hinges to the front edge of the bottom 6. The back 8 is then slipped onto the rear edge of the bottom, with the dovetail mortises and tenons engaging. The ends 9 are then set up, being connected first to the back by matching the hinge-leaves and slipping in the pintles and then swung in behind the front and the hinges joined therebetween. The top is then placed on the back and its hinges matched and the pintles slipped in. which completes the case. To take the case down, the reverse operation is performed, the hinge-pintles being pulled out one frame at a time, the top first, then front, sides, and back. 1

To clean the interior of the case or to insert articles too large to pass through the doors 12, the top of the case may be swung up, which opens the whole case. It is also possible to take off the top, front, and sides without disturbing the contents of the case. An important feature is the facility of decoration, since the front and sides can be swung out or apart and then the decorative design or articles conveniently and readily arranged from the front thereof. The difficulty of making a pretty or artistic arrangement through small doors from the rear is obvious. This is entirely remedied by my construction, whereby the whole case can be easily laid open and the decorative display made therein from the front.

It will be seen that the parts can be made in advance to fit and shipped in knocked-down condition, and the case can be set up in a few minutes by arranging the parts and putting in the hinge-pintles.

A simple means of locking the rear doors consists of two pins 28, which work through holes in the upper bar of the back frame 8 and which are arranged to enter sockets 24 (indicated in dotted lines) in the top edges of the frames 12. When these-pins are dropped in, the top 10 may be closed down on them, and when locked in front, as by an ordinary hasp and staple lock, none of the parts nor the doors 12 can be opened.

The m-ortise-and-tenon connection between the bottom and the back holds the back in an upright position at all times, even though the ends be removed or swung out, yet at the same time permits the back to be slipped off, if desired.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A display-case comprising a bottom, a back detachably secured thereto, a front hinged to the front edge of the bottom, ends hinged to the ends of the back, said front and ends being constructed to swing open outwardly, and a top hinged to the upper edge of the back.

2. A display-case comprising a bottom having projecting sills and tenons, a back resting on the sills and having mortises receiving said tenons, outwardly-swinging ends hinged to the back, and a top and front detaehably connected to the back and ends.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses,

CHARLES J. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

ANDREW A. BROMAN, J OHN R. VVILLIAMs. 

